Ambassador of South Ossetia to Russia Znaur Gassiev, at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the presentation of the 2026 International Youth Festival for representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Moscow. This was reported by the press service of the South Ossetian Embassy.
The event brought together more than 120 representatives of the the oreign embassies from 84 countries, as well as international organizations.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed representatives of the diplomatic corps, the festival partners, and Russian and foreign media at the Reception House of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chernyshenko welcomed the ambassadors to the Reception House and thanked the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister Sergey Lavrov personally for their significant support in organizing the events such as the International Youth Festival. “By decision of our President Vladimir Putin, the 2024 World Youth Festival was held in the hospitable Sirius Stadium, the site of the legacy of the best Winter Olympic Games in history. The festival brought together 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries. Last year, we successfully held the World Youth Festival Gathering in Nizhny Novgorod. The interest was enormous. Today, we are preparing to welcome guests in Yekaterinburg, where the infrastructure is a legacy of the Universiade,” he has reminded.
In his welcoming speech, Sergey Lavrov has noted that the good tradition of hosting the international gatherings of the young generation in our country has a long and glorious history.
“We trace this tradition back to 1957, when Moscow hosted what is, without exaggeration, a legendary festival of youth and students, as its participants acknowledge. We hosted this major international youth event twice more – in 1985 in Moscow and in 2017 in Sochi. Since then, this event has been restructured as the World Youth Festival. It's not that students have been forgotten. They, too, will be welcome to participate in this celebration," Lavrov said.
He has expressed confidence that all the festival participants will be united by a desire for creative self-fulfillment and harmonious interaction "for the benefit of all humanity."
The festival will be held in Yekaterinburg from September 11 to 17 and will host 10,000 Russian and foreign young people from more than 180 countries, including children aged 14 to 17.
Following the main festival program, a unique regional program will be held in 30 areas, dedicated to the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, declared by President Vladimir Putin.
